Fatal Attempts
by Senorita Monstrosity
Summary: An ancient vision is coming to pass: a powerful warlord will enslave the world, unless someone can win his heart. Now its all up to the chosen one; the only person who has the ability to either save the world or go down with it. [slight AU]
1. Prólogo

Responsabilidad: I don't own anything for Xiaolin Showdown. It all belongs to the creator, Christy Hui. I only own this idea that randomly came to me.

In my storyplot:

- characters are older than they are in show (by 2/or 3 years)

- Omi is still on the side of heylin (before he got chi back)

- shoku warrior hasn't been chosen

**Advertencia!: Warning! **

**- Yaoi/slash/mxm etc. **

**- Strong Language**

**- Violence**

**is in story plot. You don't like to read that, don't continue reading. **

* * *

**Prólogo**

_In the depths of Asia, a group of monks gathered at an ancient temple. The abbot of the group sent a message to the other monks about a vision he had two nights ago foretelling a prophecy that would happen beyond their years. When the other monks arrived at the temple their abbot was meditating with a serious expression on his wrinkled features. After acknowledging their presence, he opened his dull blue eyes and motioned them to sit. Once every monk was sitting in a circle, the eldest of them, dressed in a deep red robe, began speaking._

"_My fellow monks, I have asked for your presence because of a vision," he turned his head slowly to look each of the other monks in the eyes. "It seemed to have shown an event taking place in the vast future, perhaps even a thousand years from now."_

_The surrounding monks frowned at this. "It also appeared to show this despairing and tragic event taking take place here, in China." He bowed his head and closed his eyes, to remember what the vision showed him. And as he spoke, young monks were recording his words onto a long scroll..._

_There was a menacing and mighty warlord, whose dominion was becoming stronger and greater as the days passed. He gained these new strengths from an ancient potion combined with those from a young fallen warrior. This caused him to gain unbelievable power over time. It seemed as if he would become an unstoppable tyrant, until the solution appeared, in the form of a human being. It seems that the only way to stop this warlord's dangerous reign, is for him to fall in love with and perhaps, marry a human, and this will most likely cause him to have a change of heart, and save the world from destruction._

_But he cannot be in any relationship. The bloodstream of the chosen person's family will have gone back generations to a witch, whose visions showed her of this same event. She will prepare by placing a spell in her bloodstream when she is with child. The magic will stretch to other generations. On their 18__th__ birthday, the chosen individual to have the warlord's heart, will slowly begin to fall under the influence of an attraction spell that flows deep through their veins. The spell activates only when the warlord's great power awakens and the person is 18._

_Unfortunately, there are a few flaws that come along with the solution. One is that the individual must work hard for the warlord's heart. Sometimes they will have to go against their friends, common sense, and even everything that they believe in in order to find a way to the tyrant's heart._

_Second, there is no guarantee that the warlord will be attracted to the individual or change his ways. Since he will be under the influence of great evil, there is a chance that he will not be familiar with human feelings such as love, and he will ignore the actions the chosen person will try to display. He will also not be persuaded easily to join side of good and very well may try to convince the chosen person to the dark side if he sees potential._

_Third is that the spell in the person's blood will cause them to have dreams of this vision for a year until they turn 18. These will become more detailed and sinister each and every night as a sign of the event coming closer and closer._

_Let us not forget the most likely happening: the two may never cross paths. And the world will fall into eternal darkness._

_Once he was done, the abbot brought his head up to see the other monks still frowning. "As I've said before, this is many, many years ahead of us." He pointed to one of the young monks who were writing his words. "You and others must be sure that the scrolls of this prophecy are kept safe and is not touched by anyone."_

_The young monk bowed as he and the others stood with scrolls in their arms, and began to walk away from the abbot, worry deep in their hearts for the future of the world. _

_As the elderly monk watched them slowly disappear from his view, he sighed and thought to himself, 'May the gods of the heavens watch over the chosen one.'_

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

"**Aaah!**" I woke up with a start, taking shallow and fast breaths, trying to calm my racing heart. I began to feel my breaths and heart come to a slower pace, and looked around. I was still in my room. And by the looks of it, I guess I didn't wake anybody up. I placed my head back on my pillow and wrapped the covers tightly around my body.

"It was only another weird dream, go back to sleep." I whispered to myself, to coax myself to sleep. Soon it works, and I fell back into a deep sleep, this time, into a dark and dreamless slumber.

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**NOTA:** This not very good I know but it is just prólogo, nothing much. Review por favor.


	2. Last day Home

Responsabilidad: I don't own anything for Xiaolin Showdown. It all belongs to the creator, Christy Hui. I only own idea that randomly came to me.

In my storyplot:

- characters are older than they are in show (by 2/or 3 years)

- Omi is still on the side of heylin (before he got chi back)

- shoku warrior hasn't been chosen

**Advertencia!: Warning!**

**- Yaoi/slash/MxM etc.**

**- Strong Language**

**- Violence**

**is in story plot. You don't like to read that, don't continue reading. Gracias.**

* * *

**POP!** "Ouch! What the hell?" I rubbed a small spot on my forehead where I felt pain growing.

"Oh God that hurt! What just hit me?" I looked around and saw my youngest brother, Tony (7) and next to him his twin sister Lexi (7) bodies hiding behind the long window curtains. I grinned, noticing a bag and a slingshot in their hands.

"Another prank I see," I said with more amusement than needed. My response was giggles and hushed whispers.

A chuckle left my lips as I slunk out of my bed towards the giggling duo. When I was directly in front of them, with only the curtain in my way, I looked down to see four small feet peeking out from under the curtain. I grinned, knowing that their weakness was showing. Once those lil' toes were touched, even by a gentle breeze, the twins would start screaming with laughter and even violently kick at the 'attacker' sometimes.

I stooped down onto my knees, reached outwards towards the wiggling toes, and in a swift move, quickly tickled them, getting roars of laughter out of my siblings. I couldn't help myself, and I laughed along with them.

"Trying to disrupt the birthday dude's slumber huh?" I questioned. I took in look of my siblings peeking from the curtains, laughing and trying to move away from my ticklish grasp.

Tony started speaking, laughing in between, "We j-just (giggling) didn't w-want you to-to (giggles) sleep your big d-day away!"

"Hmm, seriously?" I ask as one of my brows arched up.

"Jajaja! Sim! Seriously, (laughter) now l-lemme go por favor!" Lexi started to kick her short legs in my direction.

My tickling slowly ceased and I snikered in spite of myself. The sound of a rip interrupted my amused state., and I saw that my curtains ripping.

"OOF!"Two slightly heavy bodies fell on top of me, taking the curtains down with them.

"Smooth, very smooth," I mutter seeing them giggling. "Now get your silly butts off of me." I said, as I tried to stand up only finding them holding tightly to my legs.

"Fly us Irmão!" They begged me, still holding me as I began to waddle out of my bedroom.

Seeing that they wouldn't let go until I met their wish, I sighed in defeat. My arms wrapped around their waists and called out my element, "Wind!"

As I flew into the kitchen, I saw my oldest siblings, Donzel (29), Javier (25) and Elsa (28), eating at the kitchen table with plates of French bread drenched in butter and sugar and cups of steaming coffee. My mom stepped into the room from outside when she heard the twins begging me for another ride. I ignored them as I stepped to my mama. She hugged me and gently pecked my forehead. For a moment she gently rubbed spot on my forehead where I was hit earlier.

"I see someone was using their marble slingshot to wake up our birthday boy," she said, and went to the stove to finish making the coffee.

I turned to see Tony and Lexi innocently eating their breakfast with the others. I grinned. "You're no where near innocent. You know that right?"

Lexi took out her slingshot and pretended to shoot something at my head. I chuckled and took a seat at the table between Donzel and Javier. Almost immediately Javier grabbed my head and Donzel took a hold of one of my arms.

"¡Feliz aniversário!" they cheered. Then Javier gave me multiple noogies and Donzel slugged me hard so many times I couldn't count. When their brutal assault was over I rubbed my sore arm and head.

"What. The. **Hell?**" I demanded as I glared at them.

"That was your _ultimate_ birthday beat down lil' man," Javier chuckled as he patted my back.

Donzel nodded, "Yeah, now you're a man. 18 years equal 18 seconds of noogies and 18 slugs...acho que fiz mais do que isso..."

"What do you mean you might've done more? Weren't you counting?" I shouted at Donzel. He just laughed and stuffed his mouth with more toast.

"I was in the heat of the moment!" he grins.

I shot him another glare and said, "Remind me about this next year, and I'll be sure to give you more than 30 slugs. See how you like it."

Javier shook his head and turned to look at Elsa, who was reading a book and sipping her coffee. "Not gonna give Rai his 18 hits?" he asked her.

Elsa only looked up at him with narrow eyes and turned a page. Donzel shrugged and gulped down his coffee.

"You know better than to mess with Elsa while she's studying," Mamà reminded him with her back turned as she stood at the stove, "She's trying to get into that law school that's in somewhere in America... erm, Michigan I think. She needs to get all the knowledge she can get before next week."

"What happens next week?" I asked, not concerned with my soreness anymore.

"I'm leaving," Elsa answered looking up from her book to give me a sad smile, "I'm going back to my house to prepare for the trip to America."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tony and Lexi frowning at hearing the news. I knew how awful it was to know that a hardly seen relative was leaving soon. I felt the same when I was five years old, my brothers and sister were constantly going places, be it school, after-school programs, or just going out with friends, I felt so lonely not being able to spend much time with them. It was even more lonely when they all became adults. Each of them found places to live, went to college or got a part time job and began dating. Spending time with me wasn't anywhere high on their schedule. I knew that they weren't tryin to _not_ spend time with me, I was just born late.

Then when I was recruited to join the temple,_ I_ was the one who completely lost communication with my family. I tried my best to send them letters, emails, I even tried to call a few times with Kimiko's cell phone; but the letters were usually lost in the mail, emails couldn't get through and when they did they didn't reply, and the calls... they could only last so long.

"Uh, speaking of departures..." My eyes went up to Mamà, who gave me a sad nod. I continued after sighing, "I'm leaving for the temple in a couple of hours,"

The others eyes widened and they looked at me obviously shocked. Especially Tony and Lexi. I saw Tony lower his head and fiddle with his bag of marbles and Lexi stared at me with her green watery eyes. I lowered my own head, sad that I had upset them with such abrupt news. Suddenly a large hand rested on my shoulder. I saw that it was Donzel's and he had a disappointed look on his face.

"Well," he shrugged, "if you're leaving soon you might as well have a great birthday here while you can."

Elsa put down her book and hurried to my right side, and hugged me tightly as she could. "Dude, you should have told us about this sooner, we could have done more for you during your stay here this month!" With a shine in her eyes she looked into my own. "When do you leave?"

"Uh, at about four, since its about a pretty long hour flight," I replied.

Elsa looked at the others with a glint of light in her eyes. "Then why not make this the best six hours of your life?" She asked as she gave me another hug. As she did, Mamà turned around with a rectangle shaped cake. It was layered with coconut shavings, slivers of pineapples and thick syrup, it was also topped with with a rich cream and berries. I could feel my mouth watering as the dessert was placed in front of me, candles lit in letters to spell 'Rai'.

After singing the traditional song 'Happy Birthday', Tony spoke up from his seat, his mouth forming a sincere smile as he asked, "After cake, what's next? Elsa, it won't be boring, right?"

"We'll do whatever birthday boy wants to do, it's all on me." She grinned when she said last part.

I grinned back and blew out the candles, excited that I was finally going to spend real quality time with my familia!

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

Two hours at the fair; two hours and a half of watching movies of my choice at the theater; and an hour and a half of shopping at the nearby mall, I was in heaven. My family and I had finally spent some time together, talking and having fun together. We caught up with one another's lives. Like I learned that Donzel was dating a woman he met at a business meeting; Javier was a player in Brazil's professional soccer team and was preparing for a championship in a month;Tony and Lexi had leading roles in their school plays and performances; and Mamà was doing just fine, and supported the household with a job as a baker at a bakery. Soon it was my turn to tell them about how my life was going.

I told them all about my experiences as a monk at the temple. First, I told them about the first time I met Omi, Clay, Master Fung, Dojo and Kimiko. Then I explained Shen Gon Wu to them and then my very first showdown. They laughed at my descriptions of me and the gang's adventures and our fights with Jack Spicer, his Jack-Bots and other villains. I shook them a bit when they heard me tell them about me changing to the side of evil with Wuya and Hannibal. When I told them that we were still fighting to gain Omi's good chi back from the Ying-Yang world, they said a quick prayer for me and the other monks' safety. I finally stopped talking when I pushed Lexi and Elsa's buttons about me admitting a _small_ crush on a certain Fire Dragon...

"Ayye! How cute!" Lexi gasped.

"That's adorable!"Elsa exclaimed.

"Bring her home Irmão! I really wanna meet her!~"

"Ooh! Me too, por favor!"

All throughout my time of packing to catch my flight, my sisters were constantly squealing in my ear about sending them pictures of her and wanting to meet her ASAP.

When my last suitcase was closed, I finally turned to them and said, "Look, first of all I said a small crush! Secondly..." I stopped in the middle of my sentence after seeing the look of anticipation in their gleaming eyes. So I sighed and decided not to say, 'I don't think it would work out anyway' and instead said, "I'll consider it."

They clapped their hands excitedly and led me to the door, where a cab was waiting for me down the hill. The rest of my family was at the door, with boxes in their hands.

I dropped my things as they handed their wrapped boxes to me. "What's this?" I asked.

Tony hugged my leg and lifted his small blue box up to me, "Presents Rai! You can't leave your gifts here!"

I smiled and embraced him and took his gift. I did same for Mama, Lexi, Elsa -and yeah- even Javier and Donzel. With more than I could carry, Javier and Lexi volunteered to help me take my things to the cab. Once everything was in the car, I hand bumped with Javier and watched him walk back up the hill to the house. Lexi stayed behind with me and looked up at me. I crouched down to look her in the eye.

Her emerald eyes started to glimmer with small dots of tears. I held her chin in my hand and brought her head up to look at me. She started sniffling and jumped in my arms, crying out, "Don't leave Raimundo! Please! Don't go!"

It broke my heart to hear begging me to stay, it also broke my heart knowing that I was needed back at the temple sooner or later whether she cried a river or not. With a reassuring peck on top of her head, I slowly let go of Lexi and whispered, "I'll be back. And when I do come back, I'll bring a friend or two so you can meet them, 'kay?"

She began to smile and said, "Promise me that you'll bring back your crush," she then winked at me and made me laugh.

That was Lexi for you, she couldn't stay sad for long.

After I nodded to seal the promise, I watched her skip back to the house, and wave down to me before disappearing inside with the rest of the family. Once they left I slid inside the car, sighing at the thought of leaving my family again, for a long time at that...

"Sir? You hear me?" I heard the cab driver ask me.

I shook my head, "What was that? I'm sorry I wasn't listening,"

"It's alright," he chuckled, "I just need to know where you're going."

I told him to drop me off at the airport and we were on our way. I was going back to China. Back to my friends, my home, my life... I smiled. I was going back, but I knew that I would be back to keep my promise to Lexi. It felt great and awful knowing I was leaving Brazil, but was it so bad that I got a weird feeling that something really strange was going to happen?

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**NOTA: **Gracias to all those who reviewed/read/faved/etc. this weird story. ^^

Here's a few translations for words that were in Portuguese

Sim: yes

por favor: please

Irmão: Brother

¡Feliz aniversário!: Happy birthday!

acho que fiz mais do que isso: I think I did more than that

Erm... I'm glad people are actually reading! It makes me happy! ^^

Review por favor

P.S. I know this look really good... that because a good friend edited/was a personal betta for this. When chapters look really good, its cause of him. If they're plain, it's me xD

P.P.S. Yes, this is Portuguese and by I may put Spanish words in this, it really be because it happens... don't know... naturally I guess... x'D So if it happens lo sentimos!

Review Por Favor, and let me know if I should continue and/or if this was too confusing/corny... ^^; Gracias for support!


	3. Return to China

**NOTA:** Quick thanks all who reviewed faved, and added story alert. It means a lot to me! ^^

Responsabilidad: I don't own anything for Xiaolin Showdown. It all belongs to the creator, Christy Hui. I only own this idea that randomly came to me.

In my storyplot:

- characters are older than they are in show (by 2/or 3 years)

- Omi is still on the side of heylin (before he got chi back)

- shoku warrior hasn't been chosen

**Advertencia!: Warning!**

**- Yaoi/slash/MxM etc.**

**- Strong Language**

**- Violence**

**is in story plot. You don't like to read that, don't continue.**

* * *

**Rai POV**

"Well, (cough) here it is," I stopped for a moment to catch my breath from trudging my bags around for so long, "the old pile of bricks itself."

I looked over the building's features from the bottom of staircase to the gate's entrance; blues shingles layered at the top, dull yellow stones outlining the small building's structure, and the grey stones that built the building itself. Once I caught breath, I trudged further to the gate, and began walking up the stairs.

"Yo! Anybody home?" I yelled as I walked up the long staircase. A small crunch from beyond the gate caused me to stop in my tracks. I watched a figure approach me, with something in its hands. When it stepped into the sunlight, I smiled to see an old familiar face, and continued up the stairs closer to the figure.

"Welcome back Raimundo, I trust you enjoyed your trip?" Master Fung looked up at me and bowed to greet me, although he didn't bow as low as he used to years ago.

I set the bags down for a moment and bowed, "Definitely. I guess you could say it was a breath of fresh air."

"Good, how is everyone?"

I shuffled my feet, not looking at him but the ground. "They're all great and are doing fine. They were so excited about my stay and we caught up with each other's lives. But I just wish I hadn't took so long to give my 'departure notice'."

His head slowly nodded to show he understood. "In delay there lies no plenty."

After being around the Fungster for so long I was able to keep myself from rolling my eyes at his useless sayings. Instead I looked at the item in his hands; a green cup of what seemed to be black tea. When Master Fung noticed me looking at the steaming teacup and he held it out to me. I smiled and took the cup, then gulped down every drop of the warm drink. Once I was done, Master Fung motioned me to follow him. I quickly grabbed my suitcases and slowly followed him through the courtyard to the temple. As we approached the building, I noticed that the area was quiet. Too quiet for my taste.

"Hey Master Fung," Although he didn't turn around I could tell that he was listening. "Where is everyone? It's so quiet, not to mention nobody's tackled me, or bombarded me with questions about the trip... yet."

After Master Fung chuckled for a moment he replied, "The others have left for a new Shen Gon Wu shortly before you arrived. They shall return soon."

When we stepped inside I saw that some furniture was rearranged, different rugs, and the sleeping area was in another part of the temple. We went through a hallway where I saw four different colored doors; one red, one blue, a brown door and a green door, where Master Fung stopped.

He turned to me and said, "We have made a few adjustments while you were gone. Too much old, time for the new, eh?" He laughed for a moment but stopped when he began coughing viciously. I quickly patted his back and stopped when he raised his hand.

He looked up at me with a small smile, "Thank you Raimundo. I forgot that I am not as young as I used to be." He walked away to the end of the hall. At the end, he turned back to me and bowed as low as he could and said in a sincere voice, "Welcome back Dragon of Wind." After that he left my sight and I entered my bedroom.

Inside my new room I saw all of my furniture placed in nearly the same places as in my old room. Old sport posters taped messily on the olive walls and slightly slanted ceiling, my bed was put in a corner, and my clothes and soccer ball placed in a pile across from my bed on a stool. Perfecto. I walked to my bed, arms full with my bags and tossed them onto it. I opened the suitcases and slowly one by one I began to unpack. After about 10 minutes of unpacking, I finally noticed my last bag. The one with my birthday gifts.

I opened the bag and took out the wrapped boxes and colored envelopes. The first present I opened was a medium yellow envelope with the Lexi scribbled all over it. Her gift was several photos of the family during my years away and recent ones of us together on my birthday. I grinned when I saw a picture she drew of me flying, with her smiling in my arms in a homemade frame.

Putting Lexi's gift on my nightstand, I moved on to Javier's big brown box. His gift was a green soccer ball with Brazil's flag symbol on it and famous Brazillian futball player, Kaka's signature next to it.

"Awesome!"I tossed the ball in my hands for a moment before moving on to Tony's present.

Inside the small blue box was a... I laughed when I took out a homemade slingshot and a bag of marbles. When I finally stopped laughing I opened a stuffed envelope that was attatched to a small yellow box. I took out 1,000 yuan. A note in the envelope had Elsa's handwriting.

_Hey Rai,_

_I wanted you to know that the money you've received from me and Donzel is exactly 1,000 yuan. __**Do not ask me how we got CHINESE MONEY**__. It's a secret that I'm not telling. Muito hush hush, certo? ;) Jaja... Donzel is making me write: Everyone misses you already shorty._

_Anyway, I think mom is nearly in tears at the thought of her children leaving again... I wish you and I could stay here, with everybody, but we gotta grow up, right? That's what you have to do to make a living in the world. First you're in another country trying to fit in with your new friends and enjoy your new habitat. Then when you see your family again its like you haven't seen each other in a lifetime. And after only a short moment, WOOSH you're gone back to the country you started in. And then someday you find yourself in bed with a beautiful foreign hunk smiling down at you, his hand holding a morning cup of tea and he whispers 'Sugar' to you in a husky voice... Oh whoa! Sorry, monologuing, in pen at that. That wasn't very smart of me... Okay pretend that I didn't just tell you about my imaginary love life! Oooh, speaking of love don't forget your promise to me and Lexi! Yeah that one 'bout the Fire Dragon. Don't you dare forget! Or else! Yeah I think you know what Elsa Pedrosa is capable of. Jaja. Alright lil' bro, gotta go._

_Love you!  
__~ Elsa Pedrosa, your big sis_

_**P.S. **_**_You're the first to see what is in the box. Not even Mom knows about this. :) Let me know how you like it when you read it. And you will read it right? Or else I'll have to come and get you! And we both know you don't want that. Jaja._**

I smirked and began to open the box the envelope was attached to. "What a hopeless romantic sis I have," I said to myself thinking about her imaginary life. "Now what's in here?" In the box was a black and silver book titled Hiding in the Dark. I was proud to see the words 'By Elsa P.' at the bottom of the book. Turning book over I read the summary.

_Everyone says all men are created equal, has equal rights, and has equal opportunities. But when Samantha Beck meets Howard Yin, her new next door neighbor, she learns how different a man can be; inside and out. And how love can sprout in unsuspecting ways, no matter how dark and forbidden it is... But how will she feel when she discovers that she has fallen in love with someone who can't love her back?_

That's all? Knowing that geeky sister of mine I thought she would have wrote a whole paragraph or something. No, actually I thought she was writing book about biology, or something like that. Okay so not Biology, but something boring and educational. I shrugged and put the book on my nightstand next to Lexi's pictures. I guess she was thinking of trying something different, I mused.

My final gift was a new gold medallion from Mama. It was thin and flat, like old one but it was in the form of a heart. And it seemed to be bleeding golden blood. I curved a brow, but put the strange, yet unique necklace on. I then noticed a folded piece of paper in the box I took the medallion out of. In Mama's small cursive handwriting I read her letter.

_My son Raimundo,_

_Seeing you again, for the first time in 3 years was such a pleasant surprise! I wish I could have seen you growing up, from the boy sent to China, to the young man you are now. I know your siblings loved seeing you again. When we got news about your arrival the house was just buzzing with excitement! Tony and Lexi were talking nonstop about what they would do when you came. I couldn't help but laugh when they suggested you guys go bungee jumping or scuba diving. But you guys had a nice time just going to the beach and hanging out, didn't you?  
Well, back to the point, I want you to know that everyone misses you, and we hope you and your friends accomplish many things. And send our prayers to everyone that we hope you rescue Omi. He sounds like a dear friend in great need... Also how is Master Vung, or is it Fung? Well how is your teacher doing? In good health I trust?  
I'm not going to keep you away from your temple duties Raimundo... I'll go and wipe away these tears of mine before they ruin my makeup._

_Take care,  
~__Your teary eyed Mama_

I read the letter over and over again, fiddling with my new medallion as I read her handwriting. I felt like a big baby for a moment, missing my family like this. But when you haven't seen them for so long it feels like you almost didn't know them at all. Especially my siblings.

"Ugh I can't believe this! Did we actually lose to that big red eyed monkey?"

"That lil' greasy handed evil scandal!"

"I don't understand why you guys are so upset, that Wu almost as useless as the Monkey Staff."

The sound of my friend's voices caused me to jump up and hurry outside. Dojo just landed when I rushed out the temple. The frowns on their faces changed once they saw me running toward them. I laughed as Kimiko and Clay hopped off Dojo and hurried over to me, I pretended not to notice that Kimiko tripped on a rock.

As soon as they reached me we had group hug and asked each other questions all at once.

"When did you get back? Why didn't you call to let us know you were coming back?" Kimiko gasped.

"It feels like forever man! How does it feel to be an adult?" Dojo asked slithering up to my shoulder and wrapping around my neck.

"Hey pardner! We all missed ya! Ya bring us anything from Brazil?" Clay lightly punched me in the arm.

"It's great to be back! How were y'all? Lonely?" I joked.

If Master Fung hadn't stopped our conversation it would have lasted through the night. We followed him to the temple where we sat in the kitchen and had jasmine tea and melon seeds. While nibbling on the seeds and drinking tea, my friends and I told each other what had happened during the month I was gone.

Kimiko gave me an update about the wu hunts, since shen gon wu have been revealing like crazy since the last year. The two wus they went after were the Dark Matter Glove, and the Arachna Cloak. The Dark Matter Glove shoots destructive black orbs at user's opponents. The one that they just lost to Jack was the Arachna Cloak., which allows the user to either transform into an actual spider, or just grow a desired amount of legs out their sides. Pretty lame and disturbing when you think about it.

I told them that my family was fine and told them the fun I had with them. We were all laughs and smiles for a while, even Master Fung grinned from time to time from behind the tea cup. But inside was a feeling of worry. The feeling wouldn't leave me alone, so I finally decided to let it out. I asked them about Omi. The room became still and quiet. The smiles were wiped from their faces and they silently drank their tea. I shifted uncomfortably from room's tension. I was about to excuse myself until Master Fung whispered to me.

"We haven not had any luck with reaching out to our fallen monk but-"

"We tried tah save him just last week!" Clay interrupted.

Then Dojo spoke, "But it was hopeless. We barely got out of the place in one piece, with Chase and his cats beating the daylights out of us!"

Clay and Dojo noticed Master Fung's eyes looking down at them, and became silent. With a slow shake of his head, our master explained how we needed to think of a plan in order to save him. I sighed. Since nearly two years ago, Omi was tricked by Chase Young to join heylin side. He was just ten then. And now two years later, the kid is 12, still a kid. We had to save him soon, or else he may be stuck on the heylin side forever.

The sad spell broke when Kim jumped from her seat to run towards the sleeping area. I lowered my head, believing that she left to cry to herself. My head shot up when I heard her door slam and her footsteps hurrying back to the kitchen. Her face was not sad or teary, but delighted and excited. In her ams were bags with her, Clay's and Dojo's names labeling them.

"I checked to see if you had seen our gifts yet, and seeing them untouched in your closet broke my heart," she said in a mocking tone with a grin on her face. "So here they are, open them already!" she placed the bags in front of me.

A bit shocked, I glanced at the others' looks on their faces. Each of them had inspired glints in their eyes. I smiled, realizing that the glint wasn't there because of the presents, but it was their quiet determination. The promise we made to each other to get Omi back, no matter what. I flashed a knowing grin at them, letting them know I was also prepared to kick some major ass to get our egotistical friend back.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

**? POV**

I watched sight of the temple, a toothy grin plastered on my face as I petted the almost golden cub on my lap. So, the dragon has returned from his vacation? I flicked my wrist for the orb in front of me to disappear.

"I should roll out my own... 'welcome' mat for him, what do you think?" I asked the cub, and received a purr in return as the cat's black eyes looked into mine with a sinister glint in its eyes.

* * *

**NOTA:** No idea why I wrote ? POV. Its so obvious XD

Translation:

Muito hush hush, certo?: Very hush hush right?

Review por favor! Adios!


	4. A Different Dream

**NOTA: Mucho gracias all who reviewed faved, and story alert. It means a lot! ^^  
Lo sentimos! Very sorry for taking sooooooooooo long to update...school was killing me. During winter I had cold/flu virus 4 times and had no strength, allergies have started and now I have a headache. Maybe this is the curse for no updating?**

**Gracias to beta who took over story while I was sick and worked on most of it.**

Responsabilidad: I don't own anything for Xiaolin Showdown. It all belongs to the creator, Christy Hui. I only own this idea that randomly came to me.

In my storyplot:

- characters are older than they are in show (by 2/or 3 years)

- Omi is still on the side of heylin (before he got chi back)

- shoku warrior hasn't been chosen

**Advertencia!: Warning!**

**- Yaoi/slash/MxM etc.**

**- Strong Language**

**- Violence**

**is in story plot. You don't like to read that, don't continue.**

* * *

Silence... Not one human, dragon or critter moved on temple grounds. Black colored the sky, and the moon's shine created an almost angelic halo around the stone building. The closest anything could be to stirring was the wind dragon. In the young man's bedroom, his figure was rolling under his bed covers. He was dreaming. A rather different dream compared to the one he had for a year. . .

* * *

**Rai POV**

I saw that the sky was tar black, with thick lines from horizon leading down to a burning town. My heart ached for the the people in the town, and I hurried to see the town nearly destroyed with no signs of any thing living still there. Huts and houses burned to the ground quickly in raging fires, and became remains of burnt wood, melted brick and heaps of ashes. I placed my robe's sleeve to my mouth to protect my lungs from the smoke.

Rushing along a road, covered with ashes and burnt limbs, I gazed at the upsetting devastation the fire left. Who did this? I wondered as I climbed over a dead tree.

"**iAjude-nos!**" I stopped in my tracks when a faint cry for help reached my ears. "**iAjude-nos, someone! Por favor!**"

Acting on instinct, I rushed to my left where I heard the voice coming from. Soon a burning hut came into view. I ran to it, and quickly kicked the door down. Between the space of large fires from the left and right, a middle aged woman, clutching a toddler and a new born for dear life comes into view. I raised my hands and conjured a strong gust of wind to blow out the fires burning up the hut, surrounding the woman and children. They said nothing as I aided them out the crumbling hut and watched them flee from the town. Once I saw that they were out of sight, I continued my walk through the dying town.

Not too long later, I heard another desperate cry from a hut nearby.

"Lexi! Can you hear me?** Oh Deus, Lexi ****answer me!**"

My eyes widened at the too familiar voice. I ran to where the voice seemed to be coming from, then saw another quickly burning hut.

"Elsa, why won't she wake up?!" I heard Toni cry to Elsa from the hut.

Without hesitation, I burst through the hut's door. "**ELSA! TONI?**" I yelled above the crackling of the fire, accidentally breathing in smoke.

"Back here hermano! Hurry!" Elsa's voice yelled from the back of the hut. My element quickly carried me closer to her voice only to find a giant fire engulfing the small room.

"Raimundo please help!" I hear my brother's voice on other side of the fire.

I quickly blasted strong gusts of wind at the fire; I watched it slowly die down. When the flame was completely diminished, I was shocked to see instead of my brother and sisters, a golden cat.

The cat's face seemed to be familiar to me for some reason. Its bead like eyes stared at me, a blank look on its face. My brow furrowed as I looked into the eyes. Why are they so familiar?

Suddenly, a diamond of glowing dots appeared on the cat's head. I gasped as the cat pounced and landed on my chest and pushed me to the ground. It bared its pointy teeth and stared into my eyes. A bit nervous, but not afraid I stared back at the bold cub. Its onyx eyes seemed alien and dark at first, but as I stared longer, I saw a glimpse of... a smile… a smile in a cat's eye? For a moment I stayed silent, but then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

"...O -Omi?" I whispered to the cat. I felt its claws twitch at the name. A wave of relief flowed through my body. Thank gods... he's alright!

But then without warning, the small cat growled and hissed at me then raised its claws to strike me; its eyes fiery and angry, its body tense. I pushed the cat off my chest and stood in a fight pose. It seemed as if I only angered the cat more somehow, as its yellow back arched and its eyes are narrowed. I could see it beginning to prepare for an attack, but a clicking sound stops it.

I finally realized that the surroundings changed from the devastated town to... Chase Young's palace?! I heard the clicking again and turned sharply to see behind me a figure in armor at the top of a long flight of stairs. After a moment the cat mewed and hurried up the stairs into its master's arms. I watched the disturbing scene of the Heylin warrior rubbing the cat's head, getting a purr from the lion cub.

I heard Chase, what almost sounded like a coo, to the cub, "Now now, you don't hurt him young one," I saw his golden orbs look down at me as he said maliciously, "That's my job."

Suddenly I heard an ear piercing roar from the cat in his arms, and watched as the cat in the warrior's arms twisted uncontrollably, trying to remove itself from the warrior's grasp. Its head desperately shook and its body twisted violently, as if it was in terrible pain. Not a moment later, I saw the source of the cat's misery. A blue flame from the warlord's hands was crackling at the cub's torso, quickly engulfing it. My eyes froze watching the helpless cat, growl and hiss desperately at the intense burning it was enduring. Finally, the animal let out an alien shriek of pain, a sound horrifying and depressing beyond words, and I watched as the cat's navy blue ashes fell to the ground.

I felt my energy rise and I felt anger absorb my body and emotions. How could he? That asshole just killed Omi! And his face...he looks as if nothing had happened! My fists clenched. I felt the air underneath me push me up, causing me to ascend feet above the ground. My mind couldn't catch up to my brain, and before I could think of anything, I was flying full speed at Chase. As my fist was centimeters from his face, he disappeared. I stopped and turned my head to see where he was, but my vision turned black when a clenched fist flew across my face, sending my body across room.

I stopped moving when I hit a column and fell to the floor. I coughed and rubbed my aching cheek and back. Ain't this a dream? How am I feeling this?

With a shake of my head I was quickly on my feet, once again flying at the damned beast, my fist ready. I could see his face, smug and amused at my attempts to fight him. That smug smile... it only pissed me off more! Once again I launched my clenched fist at the warlord's face. This time he simply moved to the side, causing me to fly past him a few inches. Huh? I turned to see the smug bastard only standing there, waiting for me to try to attack him again.

I knew fighting him head on, not to mention by myself, was a bad- no, actually a really stupid idea- but my hatred towards him was the fire that drove me to cause some sort of pain to him, and a simple bruise would do. Once again flinging my fists at his figure, I missed. Again and again and again, the bastard only stepped to the left or right to dodge my attacks. He's barely trying!

Soon, he seemed to become bored, but he continued to dodge, waiting to see how much longer I would try to fight. Noticing this, I didn't fall for this trap of his of wasting all of my energy at once. With my final missed blow, I back flipped into the air a few feet back. My palms were clammy, and my forehead was hot as sweat droplets fell down the sides of my head. Locks of wet hair were pressed to my forehead. I was ready for whatever he was going to throw at me.

For a moment he didn't move, almost as if he was studying me. Some time passed, neither of us moving, just waiting for the other. I was slowly letting my guard down when suddenly a low growl rose from the Chinese man's throat, as he lunged at me.

My eyes widened from surprise as I ducked, his fist nearly missing my head. I rose and aimed a kick at his chest. Chase grabbed my leg. Before he could do anything to the captured limb I pulled away from his grip, and instead tried to punch him. He moved his head and threw fast punches at me. His speed was too fast for me to escape them.

Each blow hit me in the head, and final blow struck my cheek and sent me flying across the room into yet another column. I could taste the blood slowly flood into my mouth and felt some seep from my forehead. I spat out some on the ground, feeling my hatred burning even more. This pain. . the hatred. . it's all so powerful. Why?

I got up once again and raced toward the Heylin. I attempted to kick him only to have my kicks effortlessly blocked again and again. Then as he fought back I moved out of his way and was able to block a few of them, but most of the attacks struck me in the chest and nose. While another kick was aimed at me, for the first time since the fight started, he spoke.

"You're weak." I blocked his kick aimed for my torso. "You're letting an... an _attachment_ to my apprentice block your focus." When he spat out _attachment _I knew he was addressing our friendship. But knowing him he wouldn't know what friendship was now would he?

I stepped back, recovering from a punch to the chest and lunged at him, delivering one of the few blows to his figure, this time his chest. "(Cough) That attachment is called friendship. And it's not a distraction or any of that shit, its (cough)-strength."

As a response Chase, growled and threw more fast punches at me, aiming for my head. I was dodging as many as I could but a harsh hit struck me in the temple. I flew back a few feet and spat out more blood and flew towards him again, my vision blurry. The first time I missed him by a mile. I rubbed my eyes and quickly tried again. As I attempted a kick to his chest the warlord caught it at the ankle and twisted it.

I groaned from the pain and tried to get out of his grip, but the more I tried the tighter his clutch. My body was begging for me to stop this endless battle that I wasn't even close to winning. My muscles began weakening and soon I was drooping to the ground, Young's hands still holding my leg.

I coughed up some more blood and cried in pain as I felt him twist my leg even more. Damn bastard, thinks it's funny I bet!

"The pain..." I heard myself murmur as my body shook and my chest heaved for breath.

"It is partially real."

. . . What did he say?

I felt as if I was betraying my conscience by listening to such an evil being, but my head turned to see the blurred figure. "R-Real?" I asked not believing him.

He shook his head and probably rolled his eyes, I couldn't tell. His hands released my pained leg and crossed his arms. "I know you're weak, but dumb too?" He mused.

"What did you mean by this is kinda real?" I questioned him with a growl.

"Exactly what I said," he responded. "You are still in the dream realm; meanwhile a physical person from reality has entered your dream, which brings the 'realness' to your pain."

I paused and realized something. "Di- did you. . .DID YOU KILL OMI?" A vicious cough escaped my throat as I looked up at him, my eyes narrowed.

"Now why would I do that?" He chuckled. "That was a spell to exit your dream. Yes it is quite painful but once you have done it so many times, you become numb."

I didn't respond. So my friend is still okay. "Well wind warrior you're boring me and I've done what I came here to do. So now I shall take my leave." He yawned.

He snapped his fingers and became surrounded by blue flames. I felt a vicious heat rising and backed away as far as I could before my leg felt a harsh twinge of pain. I watched as he slowly disappeared but before he did I heard him say, "Welcome back Dragon of Wind."

And then he was gone, ashes left behind.

Only the sound of my breathing and heartbeat was heard in the large room. I touched my leg and felt great pain when I touched my ankle. Damn it's probably sprained, or even broke, I thought to myself.

Feeling as if there was nothing else I could do, I laid down on the ground. Resting my pounding head on my sweaty hands, I closed my eyes. I could feel my body finally feel at ease and then soon numbness.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

**Chase POV**

The sight of my throne came into view. My eyes narrowed at the skinny witch sitting by my throne chair. Didn't she have something else to do besides being an annoyance?

"How did it go with the boy?" she asked, looking at her nails as if she wasn't in the least interested.

I ignored her and only sat on my throne. She turned her head and gave me an agitated look.

"Somebody's awfully grumpy today."

"...I'm not," I seethed. "It's just that I see someone that I didn't wish to see today."

She glared up at me.

"Not like I really wanted to see your sunshiny face either." The witch replied. "I've got better things to do."

"Oh really? Like what? Stare at the mirror for hours or 'hang out' with that worm Spicer?" I scoffed.

She glared harmless daggers at me again and stood, then changed the direction of our conversation.

"I'm only here to tell you that a Shen Gon Wu has appeared." She placed her hands on her hips. "Now before you go on your 'they're just magical trinkets' speech, let me just say that this Wu is one of the few actually powerful ones, that could change our position in the world."

That grabs my attention. My eyes met hers. Could this actually help lead me to world domination?

"What is this Wu?" I ask without sounding unduly curious.

Her lips curves into a disgustingly evil smirk. "Ever heard of the Infinity Roots?"

The gears in my head began to turn quickly. I heard them click and squeak as they turned. Soon my lip twitched into a smile equally or more wicked than the Heylin witch's. The plant has the power to multiply any substance's - physical or magical- strength as much as the wielder wishes. With this plant, the strength of the power in my potion would multiply endlessly...

"World domination will be so sweet." I said aloud.

"Yes, it will." the witch sighed day dreamily.

I snorted and walked to the evil eye. "When did I say you will be included in this?" I asked sternly.

Her emerald eyes widened and looked at me like a deer in headlights. How long has she believed that little twisted thought she had in her head? "You didn't really think you'd be powerful again, did you?" I sneered at her, daring her to say a word.

She didn't say anything. Only scowled and silently followed behind me to the evil eye like the servant that she is. Good, she remembered her place.

A soft sound from my golden cub caused me to look up to see it trembling in a corner. "Poor thing," I cooed to him and clicked my tongue, watching as his small frame approached me. Once at my feet he rubbed his head on my leg. I slightly grinned and picked him up, rubbing his chin in a soothing manner. "The spell was painful wasn't it?" I said softly.

He hissed in response and looked up at me, his eyes with signs of fright in them.

"My apologies young one for not telling you that sooner," I said to him. "But the more you do it the less it hurts."

I heard the redhead witch scoff and looked over at her. She crossed her arms and looked stern. "You seem to give Omi more respect than the other cats lately," She noted. "And many are as old as you are."

I thought about what she said and the best way to answer it. "It's because he's quite special," I replied. "He is after all an important key to me achieving supremacy over this planet." I rubbed just behind the cat's ear as I said this, an eager purr emitted from his throat.

Wuya merely rolled her eyes at the answer. "Well shouldn't we get a move on to retrieve the Shen Gon Wu before those kids get to it?"

I waved a hand at her. "Patience, woman." I pushed the iris of the eye and see the Xiaolin temple appear.

Wuya stood next to me, her eyes examining the eye; when she saw the temple and the monks in the eye a sound of agitation rumbled in her throat.

"Again?" She groaned. "Chase if we don't go soon, Jack is going to get there before us!"

I cringed at the sound of her whining and glowered at her. "You shall wait until I'm prepared to obtain the Wu unless you wish to go by yourself and be beaten senseless by the monks." I snarled at her, reminding her of her weakness.

"I can kick all of their butts if I wish to." She grumbled.

"Really? Go and try then." I challenged her.

She didn't move but kept her eyes down and a frown embedded on her lips. Precisely, that's what I thought. Even the monks are more powerful than her now.

As I stared back into the orb I saw the Earth and Fire Dragons in the field meditating. The Wind Dragon was missing. With a silent order the eye blurred the image of the temple to show the absent dragon in what seemed to be a washroom, their small green dragon attending to injuries on his body. A sadistic smirk formed on my lips. I didn't really notice what I've done to him until now. I should've done more, maybe actually broke rib or two would've sufficed.

The cat in my arms hissed at the eye and swatted a small paw at it. A brow curved noticing his behavior towards the appearance of the monk.

"What's wrong with him?" the witch questioned.

"Hmmm. . ." I panned the image from the Brazilian to the other monks, and noticed the cat's tense stance soften. I then went back to the image of the boy and watched as the cub began to hiss and snarl again.

"Do you wish to inflict _pain_ on him young one?" I asked the cub. Hearing a predatory growl from his throat and his eyes narrow at the dragon's image made me smirk.

"Then it is settled," I placed the cat down and snapped my fingers. Within a second the creature transformed into a young boy with yellow skin, dressed in black and red robes and slippers, his eyes glazed white.

I lead him towards the large doors outside. I heard Wuya's steps following us. "What's settled, exactly?" She hesitantly asked.

Without looking back I answered, "We're going to get the Wu obviously. And Omi here wishes to say greetings to the boy in person, right Omi?"

"Yes Master." He answered indifferently, but I could clearly feel the energy of chaos radiating from him.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

**Rai POV**

"Ah shit!"

"Oh stop moving will ya? And watch your mouth around your elders! There, that takes care of your cheek, now to check the ribs."

Dojo prodded my chest with his claws until I stiffened and gasped feeling his claw touch a bruise. Dojo shook his head seeing the red and purplish, swollen area. "Well it's bruised but not broken thankfully. Now let's head to the kitchen area. Dear gods I still don't understand it. You were just fine yesterday."

I slowly stood and limped him to the kitchen area where he wrapped some ice in a towel and told me to apply it to the injury. After another grunt of pain, I explained what happened in the dream. The burning huts and devastated village, then the golden cub which must have been Omi, and when Chase Young and I battled, where I got the bruises.

Throughout the explanation Dojo's face was serious and he nodded at certain parts, like he understood. When I was done Dojo's shoulders slumped and he shook his head.

"Wow, that's a lot in one night," he murmured. "You'll have to talk to Master Fung about this soon. Only he can really get something out of it as far as I know. But of course he's been getting older and his sayings haven't been making much sense anymore- not like they have been really in the past anyway. So it's really up to you if you wanna see what he has to say about this."

I nodded. The Fungster usually has something helpful to say despite all of the weird stuff that comes from him.

A spine shivering cry from Dojo interrupted me from my thoughts. Dojo's thin body began squirming in weird positions and his scales bubbled into a blotchy red. Shen Gon Wu alert!

"Guys! Dojo's freakin' out here! We got a Wu!" I yelled to Clay and Kimiko who were out meditating. They both got up and hurried to Dojo.

"Another one already? We jus' fetched for two yesta'day." Clay drawled.

"What's it this time Dojo?" Kimiko asked the trembling dragon.

"OWIE! Ah -ooh! It's the Infinity Roots! (scratch scratch) Ooof-my nerves are a lot twitchier than normal- this is a- OW! a biggie!" Dojo continued to scratch mercilessly at the red bubbling rash on his body as he transformed hundreds of sizes bigger.

Kimiko and Clay hopped on and I was about to ride with them when Clay stuck out a hand. "Whoa there pardner, where do you think yer going? You got all o' those injuries and bandages... Wait, what- Rai when'd that happen?" His voice went from commanding to concerned in seconds.

Kim's eyes scanned over my body and a look of extreme worry crossed her pretty face. She jumped off Dojo and looked over my injuries more closely, her mouth blabbering questions of how did this or that happen. I was happy that she was so concerned for me, but I knew that she was actually wasting time by doing this. So I held her shoulders to get her attention and looked her in the eye.

"I'm fine Kim. Just a few bruises is all."

"Raimundo Pedrosa, if you're lying to me," she warned, crossing her arms, a look of doubt on her face.

"No, really everything's alright! See?" I attempted to do a back flip but when I landed a massive wave of pain crashed through my body and I cried out in pain then fell to my knees. Oh yeah, my ankle.

Kimiko walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I understand you wanting to help us Rai, and I think your determination is great. But you are injured, however it happened -which I want to know as soon as we get back- and you need to rest as much as possible. Alright?"

Despite the desire to go on the Wu hunt with them, it was all true. I had to stay behind.

Footsteps brought our heads up to see Master Fung slowly walking over to us with the Shen Gon Wu scroll in his hands. "A strong warrior is able to lift his own weight and more everyday, but when he must rest and he doesn't, the weight crushes him." He said as he stopped by us and handed Kimiko the scroll.

"Heh, what do ya know, that one actually made sense." Dojo chuckles before quieting down to let the Fungster talk.

"Raimundo, you will stay and rest while Kimiko and Clay go with Dojo for the Wu."

I obediently nodded and watched as Kimiko climbed onto Dojo and the three of them flew up into the sky.

I watched as Master Fung walked to the table and sat in lotus position. "Now Raimundo, why don't we make some tea," he said casually. "And tell me everything that has been going on since last night."

* * *

Translation:

Ajude-nos!- Help us!

Lo sentimo for such a loooonng time gone again. . .

P.S. Next chapter either before month over or April. . . what do you think?

Review por favor!


	5. A Brewing Plan

**NOTA: Mucho gracias all who reviewed faved, and added story alert. It means a lot! ^^  
Lo sentimos! Very sorry for taking sooooooooooo long to update... again. Summer has been horrible so far. . Not to mention I've been without Internet for time, but here's a chapter to make it up. . That okay?**

**Mucho gracias Beta****!**

Responsabilidad: I don't own anything for Xiaolin Showdown. It all belongs to the creator, Christy Hui. I only own this idea that randomly came to me.

In my storyplot:

- characters are older than they are in show (by 3 or more years)

- Omi is still on the side of heylin (before he got chi back)

- shoku warrior hasn't been chosen

**Advertencia!: Warning!**

**- Yaoi/slash/MxM etc.**

**- Strong Language**

**- Violence**

**is in story plot. You don't like to read that, don't continue.**

* * *

The elder man slowly tipped the kettle, pouring the honey colored drink into a teacup, steam rising in thin swirls. Then he slowly and a bit shakily, placed the slightly large kettle on the tablemat before them. On the other side of the small table, Raimundo took a slow sip of the tea, feeling his body respond almost immediately. His muscles relaxed, and he could almost feel the stress roll off his shoulders.

As he drank, old eyes silently studied his pupil, or more specifically, the mysterious bandages decorating the skin in a decorative way that brought a twitch of a frown to the man's lips. Despite this, he only kept his appearance as one of a grandfather looking after his injured grandchild who just fell off a tree branch.

"How are you feeling Raimundo?" he asked, his grey eyes sparkling with concern.

The younger man set the tea cup down on a small platter on the table after another quick sip, emptying the cup. "Pretty good actually," he smiled gratefully. "I feel a whole lot better."

Master Fung nodded slowly at the comment. "Yes, you made a wise choice on choosing the chamomile tea. Its healing powers are known for healing and being a muscle relaxant."

Raimundo reached for the tea kettle and began refilling his cup. "That and a tablespoon of fly larva I added when you were not looking. . . Ah, I believe your cup was full many drops ago young monk, it's overflowing."

"H- huh? Oh crap, it got on my pants!" Raimundo groaned and was about to stand to get something to clean his mess when the elder monk raised his hand, letting him know not to worry about it. He gracefully stood, chuckling as he did, and got a cloth and handed it to the tan man in front of him.

"Heh, thanks Master Fung." Rai said as he began patting the wet spot on his robe pants.

"You are welcome." He replied; a trace of laughter in his voice as he spoke. "You do understand that the larva was a mere joke, correct? I did not meddle with the tea while your back was turned."

Rai responded with a nervous laugh. Yes, a joke, of course! The sound of liquid filling a cup caught his attention. Looking up he saw Master Fung pouring himself a cup of the tea, then setting the kettle on the table. After a few sips of the liquid, the once shining eyes dulled, and met Raimundo's. When the words came out of his mouth, there was a serious tone hinted in them. "Now, if you would Raimundo, tell me the origin of your peculiar wounds."

Tanned shoulders slumped forward; a sigh escaped the warrior's lips. "Okay Master Fung. It's kinda a long story. . ."

**XxXxXxXxXx**

The two dragons-in-training and their giant scaly friend, soared in sky above the mountains and seas. It had been ten minutes since they left their injured friend behind. The ride was quiet and awkward. None of them spoke; their minds were distracted on how Raimundo ended up in that condition. The only one who knew anything was Dojo. Kimiko and Clay were clueless, and were anxious to hurry and get the Wu and be able to get back to the temple to hear what happened last night.

Finally, the girl spoke. "Where are we headed now Dojo?"

Broken from his thoughts Dojo shook his head and answered, "Ah, um. . . Oh! Sydney, Australia if I am remembering correctly."

"Okay, so can ya explain whut exactly this here Infinity Roots does anyway?" Clay asked from behind Kimiko.

As they glided over miles of mountains colored by various shades of green and grey Dojo explained, "This Wu is a powerful one. It was actually once a normal seed, but Grand Master Dashi had an idea that it could actually one day sprout into a magical plant with power beyond imagination; then it could be manipulated by, what he hoped, a good person. You know, could cure illnesses, reverse death, and other miracles.

So knowing it held such powers, he decided it couldn't be casually used, and should be used when there is a dire crisis that affects the entire world. So he put a spell on it that kept its full and matured powers concealed for centuries upon centuries, then one day it would activate when its usage would be the most appropriate."

The two monks on his back listened intently to the explanation. Meanwhile Clay had a question brewing in his head and asked, "So why now? Ya know, besides the obvious, a good 'nd evil battle goin' on. We've been in other dangerous situations before."

They began to slowly progress towards a slight opening from the treetops. "Dunno, but it has and I guess we'll just have to see why soon. Hang on!" The dragon cautioned as he quickly dove vertically through the opening, leaves and branches flying this way and that as he did.

Kimiko and Clay held on as tightly as they could, feeling the leaves and such brush past their faces and bodies. But soon it was over, and they hopped off Dojo onto the forest floor, trying to gain their balance.

"Ohh, my stomach," Kimiko moaned as she tried to keep herself from wobbling to the side. "I think it flew off into a tree somewhere."

"I'll say. Not to mention all the things in my hair and hat." Clay sighed as he took a deep breath and brushed the dirt and leaves off of him. As Dojo he shrank, almost immediately he shivered and scratched at a rash.

"Complain all you- OW! want! But at least we didn't crash." He remarked scratching feverishly. "Or land somewhere too far away from the Shen Gon Wu-oooh!"

Kimiko and Clay glanced around. They were in the middle of a hot and humid rainforest. The land was actually quite beautiful in a general sense. The tall and broad trees crowded around the slender trees, each one reaching towards the sky. The trees great leaves caused the forest floor to be dark in some areas, from their shade. And the rush of a waterfall could be heard in the distance.

Then again there were the various insects chirping and clicking. Sounds of rustling could be heard, where small animals were probably hiding from them. And there was of course, the mixture of the humid climate.

The blue eyed girl suddenly gasped, realizing something. "Well, Dashi definitely chose a rather nice place to plant the Infinity Roots," she groaned, placing her hand over her face. "In the middle of a FOREST, where there are millions of other things growing!"

"Yeah, well it wasn't like that when he buried it. A lot less trees and bushes. . and plants and uh stuff. . . Ah! (scratches) Anyway we have to keep going kiddos," he slithered up Clay's shoulder under his cowboy hat. "I'm pretty sure the Heylin have heard of this Wu's activation. And the last thing we need is for any of them to get their hands on it."

Then the dragon scratched his chin in thought as something came to mind. "Well, actually not all of them."

The warriors furrowed their brows. "Whatcha mean not all of them? When a Wu activates, usually everybody knows about it." Clay said, not sure what Dojo was talking bout.

"Well," Dojo mused, "the feeling of the Wu comes and goes really. So I don't think anybody who knows about a Wu though a machine or something would know about it."

The warriors weren't catching on. "Meaning?" They asked in unison.

Dojo continued thinking, then suddenly cringed and muttered, "Only Wuya and I would know about its activation . . . which means that only her and (gulps) Chase Young knows about it."

Clay and Kimiko gave each other wary glances, already knowing the endless awful possibilities that could arise if the Prince of Darkness got the Wu first.

Keeping their focus on the mission, Dojo pointed in a random direction and rubbed an aching sore on his rash from scratching so much.

"Oh! I'm feeling that it's that way. Let's go uh . . . East! I'm thinking its East, ah well just follow my finger!" He instructed the dragons-in-training. They hurried in the said direction, towards rows of mountains.

**XxXxXxXxXx**

**Chase POV**

A nasally noise from behind me caused my lips to twitch in irritation, but I kept my composure and did not turn my head, as I had for the other times the witch spoke.

"So, can you tell me again why we're doing this?" Wuya asked, her arms most likely crossed and her eyes narrowed.

At the slightly open garage door to the mansion, I lifted it so we could walk in. Although I could understand the witch being cross with this decision, I could really care less, so I stayed silent not answering her.

I looked around the dimly lighted room, the light above buzzed and zapped. Scraps of metal parts, half made robots and tools cluttered the room. Not to mention the countless amounts of chip bags, pudding containers and empty bottles piled up in various places. One would think that after all of this time has passed the boy, would have learned to clean up once in a while.

As we got through the junk to the other side of the room I could see a leather coat and a head of blazing red hair at a desk in front of a computer. Seeing the leather-clad form before us asleep, I smirked and kicked the side of the chair the young man was sitting in, sending him flying in the other direction. A slightly high pitched yelp escaped his lips as his body rolled onto a pile of broken robots.

Once Spicer's eyes flew opened he looked up at us. He then rubbed his pinkish orbs sleepily and frowned.

"What's the matter, Spicer? Not delighted to see us?" I teased, knowing very well that the now 21 year old Spicer had grown from his fanboy ways a few years ago. But then again, he still respects me.

"Oh no I'm actually overjoyed," He answered sarcastically with a yawned, "can't you tell?"

Or sometimes he does.

My lips formed a thin line and my eyes narrowed. "I don't have time for your jokes boy, we actually need your. . assistance." It was quite distasteful saying that I actually needed the boy, but he was an important pawn in my little game.

I could clearly see the gears churning in his head, registering what I said. In a few moments he got up, dusted himself off and stood before us with his hands on his hips.

"Help huh? Help with what?"

Wuya scoffed then seethed, "Getting a Shen Gon Wu, Jack, what else?"

The albino stood silent for a moment, his eyes showing confusion. "A Shen Gon Wu?" His arm swooped up and he looked at a chunky watch, which he most likely used as a Wu locater. For a moment he didn't speak as he tinkered with the watch, but soon he shook his head. "That doesn't make sense (presses buttons) I don't see any indication of a Wu activating."

"Well, anyone there is one, and we need your help going after it." Wuya retorted shrugging at Spicer's comment.

Of course Spicer shook his head again, "But how can that be? There's nothing here to prove that."

Wuya's mouth opened to speak, but Omi interrupted by letting out a yell and pouncing on Spicer, causing him to fall on his back.

Omi's hands clutched tightly on Jack's collar and his face got dangerously close to Jack, from the sound of his voice he was probably snarling at him.

I saw Wuya's eyes widen from his sudden action. I couldn't help but to smirk. The young warrior's evil chi surfaced. Jack quivered under the boy, his eyes staring worriedly at Omi.

"No more questions Jack Spicer! You are going with us to get the Shen Gon Wu or else I will strike your lower body!"

I don't think the albino completely understood what the threat meant, but knew it wasn't good. He gulped audibly and his head nodded quickly agreeing. "Alright alright! I'll help!"

With that Omi jumped off the goth and landed by my side, watching as Spicer stood and looked at us wearily. "S-So, what was it you wanted me to-to do?" he asked meekly.

This was going to be too perfect. I watched Spicer's unsure reaction to my words and grinned wider. "Tell me Spicer, do you have any stealth skills at all? Or what I' m really asking is, do you still have that Monkey Staff?"

**XxXxXxXxXx**

**Rai's POV**

"Then, I blacked out . . . That's all."

Master Fung had a concentrated look on his face during the entire story, his body like stone. His eyes never wavered from me, showing me I had his undivided attention. His head nodded at times, but that was the only movement he made.

Silence filled the room. I began to feel slightly uncomfortable, so I took a long sip of tea. I grimaced. Yuck, it's cold.

It wasn't until the Fungster sighed faintly that my attention drifted from the tea to him. His eyes were closed, furrowed brows showing that he was in deep thought. "This is a pure example of Chase Young's capabilities as an evil villain."

"As if he wasn't bad already," I slipped out.

A nod of the Fungster's head showed his acknowledgement to my comment. "Yes, his magic is becoming stronger. . ."

I thought more about this situation as I sipped some more tea. Seriously, if this guy wasn't stopped soon, the odds of 1,000 or whatever long period of time of darkness would multiply and quickly be upon us; not just us, the world actually. Not to mention he'd lock us up somewhere in the dungeons, or worst, make us his slaves.

Ha, like I'm gonna let that happen! I'd much rather die than let any of that happen to me. As for the others. . . I haven't the slightest clue. Maybe I'd help them escape, or if they were as desperate to get out as me, they could go with me to perform a quick suicide.

"Did you hear me Raimundo?"

I sputtered and nearly spat some tea. How long had he been addressing me? Or more so talking?

"Uh heh, ah no actually," I placed the tea cup down and dipped my torso low in a bow of apology. "Could you repeat that please? I'm really sorry for blocking you out. It was just. . I was thinking."

I heard a soft chuckle and straightened my back to face my teacher. His eyes were closed but his lips were a thin smile. "It is understandable young monk," Heh, even as an adult he calls me 'young monk'. I guess old habits do die hard.

"I merely asked if this kind of occurrence has happened before?" his eyes opened again showing he was listening again.

I shook my head and replied, "Nope. Last night was the first and only time that has ever happened."

Wait, last night's dream. That was the first and only time I ever had a different dream at all for that matter.

Master Fung's voice reached my ears. "Is something troubling you Raimundo?"

"Ah. . . " My mouth closed. The old dream. But was it really necessary to tell him? Then again, they've been troubling me for some time now. And really, I don't understand them. . . And the last one, oh my gods, I still haven't gotten over it in my spirit.

The screams. The darkness. The malicious and deadly feeling of it. Not to mention the bastard's smirk as he wiped out town after town town with a fiery end. And those things are only half of it.

My eyelids drooped and a sigh of stress left my lips as I pondered this decision. "Master Fung, I've had a series of disturbing dreams before this one." I did it. I told someone.

"Oh, is that so?" I nodded, feeling all of the emotions that the dreams constricted my body with, I sighed again. "There's this, um let's say an age old legend, you see."

**XxXxXxXxXx**

Meanwhile in the rainforest, two humans and a dragon were scouting. For a while now the cowboy had trudged this way and that though the crowded forest of sprawled vines, massive tree trunks and annoying insects about one size too big. The Japanese girl lazily sat upon his shoulders, his hat on her head, along with the green dragon that was guiding them- or at least was trying to.

Kimiko sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"So like, has it been an eternity yet? Or is that just me exaggerating?" she grumbled as she tipped Clay's hat further over her eyes to block sun rays peeking through the forest ceiling.

"Oh stop your whining kid-"

"I'm 17 Dojo, how about young lady?"

"Whatever. Eeeww, get! (swats at swarm of bugs) Like I was saying kiddo, we're nearing the Wu this time, I can-OOH! (scratches rash) feel it!"

Kimiko rolled her eyes, "Sure, that's what you said last time, and the time before that."

"And the time b'fore that." Clay added.

"Hey! Are you questioning my natural Wu compass?" Dojo huffed in a mock-hurt tone.

Clay paused before answering, "Possibly. . ."

The dragon crossed his arms and replied, "Well, I'm appalled! And I'll have you know that in all my years of itchy red rashes and Wu hunting, I've been fairly accurate!"

"Okay, but that doesn't change the fact that this has been your sixth time changing directions," Kimiko retorted. "Not to mention one of those times, we nearly fell into a waterfall."

The dragon shrugged and placed a claw above his eyes, "This wu is pretty tricky, what else could it be?"

"Well yer not 'xactly the young, strong dragon ya used to be either Dojo," Clay said.

"When was he?" Kimiko giggled, which caused the ancient creature to glare mentally, but quickly shrugged the comment off when something caught his eye. "Clay, straight ahead, I think I see something!"

"Are you sure?" Both dragon warriors asked making sure it wasn't a false alarm.

"Well fine, if you think I'm lying about that thingy growing on that little island in front of us, go ahead and-WHOA!" He couldn't finish since Clay had sped up, and was now running to the area Dojo pointed out.

He was right; just on the island in a large river was the figure of a plant sprouting from the ground.

**WHAM!**

An unknown force suddenly struck them from the side, sending them tumbling into trees and thick roots. The group groaned from pain caused by the sudden attack and the force of tree trunks stopping them.

"Such a shame, I was expecting a challenge." A husky voice chuckled from above the warriors.

Dojo's small body shook as he lifted his head to catch a glimpse of the attacker before quickly hiding under Clay's hat.

Soft thuds identified that the attackers had landed on the forest floor, and footsteps began approaching the warriors. Quickly regaining their composure, the dragon of Fire and Earth rose to their feet and immediately stood in a fighting pose seeing the figures before them.

Kimiko spat the attackers' names as if the very sound of their names on her lips was poison. "Chase Young. Wuya. . .Omi." The Japanese teen glared knifes at the group, her blue eyes softened only for a moment when she saw the former Dragon of Water.

They were silent for what seemed like hours, glaring angrily at each other, looks saying things that words couldn't possibly describe.

Finally, Chase broke the silence. "Where's the Dragon of Wind?" His voice was impassive, but his golden orbs sparked with silent dark humor.


End file.
